0654//Putin criticises Israeli attacks on Iran; considers evacuating top Iran officials
ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: The Kremlin has criticised Israel for striking Iran with missiles and drones. Iran has become a key ally for the Kremlin since its invasion of Ukraine. (COMMENT: The issue here is how deep the Kremlin gets dragged into the Israel-Iran conflict.)
Vladimir Putin on Friday spoke to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. (COMMENT: Russia has traditionally been a power broker in the Middle East but, although Putin and Netanyahu had once enjoyed a personal rapport, the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin's alliance with Iran, have broken this friendship.)
Russia's main TV propagandists sided with Iran and criticised Israel and the US over the missile and Mossad strikes. Vladimir Solovyov said: "What is Iran guilty of? What did Iran do wrong? Did it attack someone or commit a political murder in other countries?" Margarita Simonyon, head of the Kremlin's RT media unit, accused the Western media of "hushing up" civilian deaths in Tehran.
Russia's online war propagandists crowed with envy at the Israeli attack on Iran, comparing its success to Russia's failure to capture Ukraine in 2022. The Zhivov Z telegram channel told its 110,000 subscribers "Israel shows us all how a country can fight" and Ivan Pankin, a pro-war commentator, said "Putin and his loyal rabble are interested in not acting effectively, as Israel does, but only in pretending to be in the Great Holy War". (COMMENT: Russia's Z-enthusiasts, those pro-war hard-right Russian nationalists, have always been in awe of Israel's martial state. Israel's attacks on Iran have impressed them. They are allowed to be critical of the Russian army's planning of its invasion of Ukraine because the Kremlin knows that they support a "Greater Russia" and Russian superiority.)
Top Iranian officials are negotiating with Russian officials to evacuate to Russia through a "secure corridor" if the situation deteriorates, Iranian media reported. (NOTE: This report is unconfirmed but has been picked up by media in Russia considered close to the Kremlin. In November, the Kremlin evacuated Bashir al-Assad from Damascus as rebel forces closed in on his capital so it does have form with evacuating allies from tricky scenarios. It's important for the Kremlin to be seen as a loyal friend and to provide shelter to under-pressure proxies and allies. This is an important part of its alliance package.)
CHAT WITH TRUMP: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held their fifth telephone call on Saturday since Trump took over the US Presidency in January. The Kremlin said that the men discussed "the dangerous escalation in the Middle East" as well as a potential peace deal in Ukraine. The telephone conversation reportedly lasted 50 minutes. (COMMENT: This is yet another indication of the growing US-Russia partnership and also a nod to the influence that Russia holds in the Middle East.)
SMARTPHONE SNOOPING: A Kremlin-controlled smartphone messaging app will be used to snoop on users, analysts have warned. Russian MPs last week passed a law that will obligate all new smartphones to carry the Max app from Sept. 1. The app is being promoted as a guard against fraudsters and tricksters but analysts said that the app is being developed by the Kremlin-controlled VK social media website and will be used to log and track users contacts, messages and movements. (COMMENT: The main target here is Telegram, the hugely popular and mainly Russian-language social media app. The Kremlin wants to be able to track its usage more easily and the app is its "Trojan Horse". Vladimir Putin has taken a keen interest in the project personally. At the start of June Maksut Shadayev, the minister for digital development, discussed Max with Putin in the Kremlin.)
KAZAKH NUCLEAR DEAL: Kazakhstan on Saturday handed Rosatom, Russia's nuclear agency, a contract to build its first post-Soviet nuclear power station. It beat China's National Nuclear Corporation, France's EDF and South Korea's Hydro and Nuclear Power to land the multi-billion-dollar deal. (COMMENT: This is an important win for the Kremlin as it locks Kazakhstan into its sphere of influence for generations. The Kremlin will have the keys to Kazakhstan's only nuclear power station. It is also a reminder of just how much power and influence the Kremlin holds in former Soviet Central Asia.)
SCOOTING TO BATTLE: Russian soldiers are training to use electric scooters to silently ride into battle against Ukrainian forces, they told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. (COMMENT: Russian forces have been innovating their tactics across the war zone in Ukraine.)
ETERNAL FLAME EXTINGUISHED: Police in Yaroslav are on the hunt for a small boy who cycled up to a World War II Eternal Flame monument and extinguished it with water from a vase of flowers. (COMMENT: Eternal Flame monuments dot Russian towns and are supposed to be respected reminders of Russia's "glorious" military past. The boy is in trouble.)
NEWS MATRIX:
Putin's criticism of Israel is important but not a surprise. He is indebted to Iran for vital missile and drone supplies for his war in Ukraine. The question is – can Russia avoid getting dragged into the Israel-Iran conflict? There are already news reports that Russia is considering giving top Iranian officials sanctuary. The news item that Kazakhstan has awarded Rosatom the contract to build its first post-Soviet nuclear power station is not entirely surprising but it is important because it ties Kazakhstan more closely into the Russian system. Russian soldiers learning to ride electric scooters into battle is an example of how the Russian army has adapted and innovated during the war in Ukraine, just as the Ukrainian army has.